THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Monday, January 30, 1995               TAG: 9501280154
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY          PAGE: 04   EDITION: FINAL 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   44 lines

PHILLY YARD COULD BE CENTER FOR FAST FREIGHTERS

Many container ships plying Hampton Roads cross the briny seas at an average speed of 15 to 20 knots an hour. Massachusetts Institute of Technology designers are honing a swift hull they say could sustain 40 knots.

``The commercialization of this technology could lead to a rebound in American competitiveness in shipbuilding and an expanded role for the U.S. in transportation of high-value cargo,'' said MIT engineer Chryssostomos Chryssostomidis.

Trouble is, the rebound might occur up north. The fast freighters are a collaboration of MIT and FastShip Atlantic Inc., whose key investors are the Delaware River Port Authority and entrepreneur Thomas J. Holt Sr., who intends to build a $250 million ship terminal in Philadelphia.

FastShip is considering building the swift vessels at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard after the Navy leaves in September. Plans call for eight 770-foot ships on the Atlantic and, by 2,000, ten 880-foot ships on the Pacific.

There are saloons and there are restaurants, and one big difference is the amount of food and alcohol consumed by the customers.

Up in Richmond, Del. William P. Robinson Jr., D-Norfolk, contended many restaurants are hard pressed to meet the Old Dominion's standards. A restaurant must sell 45 percent food and 55 percent mixed drinks to hang onto its mixed beverage license.

Last week, the House of Delegates' general laws committee set the stage for change. The committee OK'd a bill lowering the food-booze ratio to 35 percent.

Although Governor Wilder vetoed a similar bill by Robinson in '93, restaurant lobbyist Michael Lafayette claimed the 35-percent rule would surpass the standards of all but eight other states. For one thing, restaurants would continue to have to have minimum monthly food sales of $4,000.

Virginia has about 2,900 restaurants with liquor-by-the-drink licenses. A provision that included beer and wine in the ratio was removed earlier. by CNB